This is one Mean Old Lady!

Self-portrait: 'Quilter on Fire'

Monday, August 18, 2014

The Lake House--post-tornado edition!

The tornado of April 27th was very strong (F-5) and the damage beggars description in Vilonia and Mayflower, not to mention the rest of the cyclone's destructive path. Our repairs took a while--mostly because we had to wait in line for our contractor to get to our job. We did what we could in the mean time--for instance, we moved the furniture from the large sun room and the small bedroom into a storage pod.

Then we rented a 'roll-off dumpster' and hired a worker to demolish the ceilings in the two rooms. The contractor and his crew repaired the rafters which had been torn loose from the frame of the house, did a tear-off of the two old layers of roofing shingles, and replaced the split sheeting panels. Then they put on roll-roofing, insulation, and our new metal roof with a ridge vent. Isn't it pretty? (Well, I guess it's in the eye of the homeowner...)

Then we were able to bring in the next contractor in line and have a new ceiling installed in the sun room. (Since the hangers were still in place in the bedroom, the DHubby was able to install the new tiles and insulation in there himself.) After that, it was mainly a matter of scrubbing all of the walls and floors, doing some touch-up painting, and then moving our stuff back inside. (Unfortunately, the POD had a small leak....) New ceiling fan #1 going in. The DHubby rewired things so we can turn on the fans without turning on the lights....

The sun room with view of naughty POD.

The little bedroom all back together at last!

We celebrated our 35th anniversary by spending the night at the lake for the first time in a long, long while!

Also joining us:

This year's edition of the writing spider... (actually, this one is living near the shed; there is another one very close to the front door. I'm sure they are the offspring of the wonderful spider that graced a sun room window all last summer.)

This rascally red-bellied woodpecker visits the hummie feeders frequently. Downy woodpeckers have also learned to suck down the sugar water, and during nesting season we see orioles doing the same thing. Who knew? The humming birds get their share, but don't tangle with the larger birds; they fight constantly to protect the feeders from other hummers, though.

Of course herons are always about.

The view from the swing is always relaxing and lovely. Counts as a Happy Ending, right?

I’m sorry to hear that you had to go through a tragic incident with the tornado, but I admire the way you dealt with it. I actually think that the metal roof with a ridge vent actually looks great, it creates a far more modern look for your house. Anyway, thanks for sharing this post with us, Elaine. Have a great day!